


I thought I had lost you

by teej_318



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Comfort, El and Max become friends, Everyone is exhausted, F/F, F/M, M/M, Mike is a good friend, Protective Mike Wheeler, Sleepovers, Soft Will Byers, Will and El finally meet, Will just needs a hug, reunited
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2020-01-23 11:30:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18548887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teej_318/pseuds/teej_318
Summary: Since the Duffers cheated us at the end of season 2 and didn't show Mike and Will reunite after the Mind Flayer exorcism, I wrote it instead. Minor Eleven/Mike moments (mainly just a hug) and Eleven/Max becoming friends finally. The focus is on Will/Mike.





	I thought I had lost you

Mike hesitated as he followed Steve, Dustin, Lucas and Max up the porch of the Byers’ house. Steve was already inside, but his friends were just outside the door when Dustin realized that Mike wasn’t following them.

 

“Mike,” Dustin said. “You coming?”

 

Mike glanced around the driveway, wondering where the others were. He turned back to Dustin and shook his head.

 

“I’m gonna wait out here for El and Will to come back,” he said. “You guys go on in and get warm.”

 

“Are you sure?” said Dustin. “We’ll stay out here and keep you company, man.”

 

“Speak for yourself, but I’m not gonna freeze out here!” said Max as she hurried inside.

 

Lucas shrugged.

 

“I guess I should go in with her so she’s not in there with just Steve for company,” he muttered before he followed Max into the house.

 

Mike and Dustin stared at each other when they were alone. There was a beat before Mike spoke.

 

“Go ahead and go inside,” Mike said. “I’ll be okay out here by myself. I just really want to see both of them, and I wanna see them sooner rather later.”

 

“Suit yourself, Mike,” Dustin said, grinning. “Just stay away from me if you get sick after being out here for so long in the cold.”

 

“Yeah, yeah,” said Mike, waving his hand for Dustin to go inside. Dustin chuckled, but obliged him and went into the house.

 

Mike sat down on the porch, the cold not bothering him at all. His main concern was knowing that El and Will were okay. El had gone with Hopper to the Hawkins Lab and based on what Mike could see of the demogorgans when they were underground, she had succeeded in closing the gate. Meanwhile, Joyce, Jonathan and Nancy had taken Will somewhere unknown in order to get the Mind Flayer out of Will. Mike hoped that it had worked and he would have his best friend back again.

 

It had just been about five minutes of Mike sitting on the porch thinking when he saw the familiar police car pull into the driveway. Mike stood up quickly as he glanced around for El. As if she were a magnet attracted to Mike, El jumped out of the car and ran straight for Mike and practically jumped into his arms.

 

“Are you okay?” Mike demanded as he wrapped his arms around her.

 

“I’m fine, Mike, I’m fine,” El whispered back as Hopper walked up to the porch and nodded at Mike. “I closed the gate. It’s over.”

 

“Oh, thank goodness,” Mike said as he broke apart the hug. He turned to Hopper.

 

“You okay?” he asked, trying to make up for his bad reaction to finding out that Hopper had known that El was alive and well and keeping her in that abandoned home.

 

“I’ll live, kid,” Hopper grunted.

 

“I’m sorry about earlier,” Mike said, looking rather sheepish. “I didn’t mean to lose my temper like that.”

 

“Nah, don’t worry about it, kid. I get it. Caring about someone makes you do crazy things. Don’t worry about it.”

 

Mike nodded as a second pair of headlights appeared in the driveway and another familiar car pulled in.

 

“Will,” Mike said under his breath as he let go of El and ran to the car. As soon as it stopped and the headlights turned off, Will barreled out of the car and ran over to Mike, who pulled him into the tightest hug he had ever given.

 

“Mike!” Will exclaimed as he clung to Mike as if his life depended on it.

 

“Will!” Mike said just as loudly as he held tightly onto Will, one hand on the back of Will’s head while the other rubbed Will’s back. “I thought I had lost you. Are you all right?”

 

“I’m okay,” Will said as they broke apart the hug but kept their arms wrapped around one another. “I’m feeling much better now.”

 

“That’s good,” Mike said with a grin as El approached them, looking nervous. Mike sensed her presence and took his hands off of Will to gesture to her. “Will, this is…”

 

“Eleven,” Will finished for him, looking at El as though he couldn’t believe his own eyes. He stared at her with his eyes widened as El looked back into his eyes, not quite sure what to do.

 

“Will,” El said in reply as Will pulled her into a hug, which took El by surprise. Nevertheless, she hugged Will back warmly, causing Mike to smile.

 

“Thank you for everything you’ve done,” Will said when he broke apart the hug. “I wouldn’t be standing here without you. Thank you so much.”

 

“You’re welcome,” El replied, giving Will a warm smile. “Are you feeling okay?”

 

“Better now. We should get inside. Mom, Jonathan, Nancy and Hopper are already indoors,” he said, nodding at the front door, where the others had already disappeared. “Um, El, could you give Mike and me a minute to talk alone?”

 

“Of course,” El said, giving Mike a confused look. Mike shrugged in response, but gave El another hug before she, too, turned and walked into the house.

 

Will turned to Mike and pulled him into another hug. Mike held onto Will tightly, feeling as if Will was depending on him to reassure Will that Mike was there with him.

 

“I heard you,” Will whispered as he rested his head on Mike’s shoulder.

 

“When?” asked Mike inquisitively.

 

“In the shed, when you were telling me about the day that we first met and became friends. I could Mom talking to me about my birthday and the rainbow ship and I could hear Jonathan talking to me about Dad. I couldn’t hear Hopper, but I could sense he was there with you all. And I could hear you talking about that first day of kindergarten. I can’t believe you remembered that.”

 

“Are you kidding?” said Mike incredulously. “That was the best day of my life, Will. And you saying yes, you wanted to be my friend, that’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

 

“It’s the best thing that ever happened to me, too,” Will admitted as he broke apart the hug and looked up at Mike’s eyes. “Thank you for remembering it and telling me. I could hear it and I could hear how much it meant to you.”

 

Mike smiled at Will as he started to pull Will in the direction of his house, the cold finally starting to get to him.

 

“I meant every word,” Mike said. “And I’m just glad you’re safe now.”

 

Together, Mike and Will entered the living room and there was a smattering of cheers as Dustin and Lucas practically body slammed Will when they saw him, forcing Will away from Mike. Mike couldn’t help but grin as he turned his attention to El, who was talking to Max with a curious expression on her face. Mike walked over to them and sat down next to El.

 

“…you don’t have a crush on Mike?” El was asking. Mike froze, looking slightly mortified. Max glared at him, rolling her eyes before she turned back to El.

 

“No,” Max said firmly. “In fact, he’s kinda an annoying asshole.”

 

“Hey!” Mike said.

 

“Well, you could’ve been a little nicer to me, is all,” said Max coolly. “But don’t worry, I won’t hold that against you.”

 

“Can we be friends?” El asked.

 

Max looked taken aback. It was Mike’s turn to roll his eyes.

 

“Y-yes, we can be friends,” said Max as if she were unsure how to answer the question.

 

El smiled at Max and scooted closer to her, pulling her into a hug. Max looked confused, but smiled nonetheless as Dustin and Lucas sat down on the couch with them.

 

“Nice to see you two have become friends,” said Lucas, smiling.

 

“Yeah, I guess that means you’re both badasses,” said Dustin.

 

“We were already badasses, thank you,” said Max, trying to sound annoyed, but grinning nonetheless.

 

“Good point,” said Dustin, nodding. “Well, in any case, I guess this means you’re both full party members, what do you say, Mike?”

 

Mike nodded at Will and smiled at El and Max. It was the first genuine smile he had given the red-haired girl since they met.

 

“Of course,” he said. “El is our Mage and Max is our Zoomer.”

 

At that, Joyce joined the rest of them in the living room, having showered and changed clothing after the exorcism of the Mind Flayer.

 

“All right, you all, you’re all certainly welcome to stay the night here,” she said. “It’s late enough as it is and I really don’t think any of you should be out there on your own tonight, even though everything is done. You can all stay here in the living room and get some rest. I want you all in bed within half an hour, okay?”

 

There was a general murmur of agreement from the kids, who all suddenly realized how tired they are; it was well after midnight and even if they hadn’t all just fought beings from another dimension, they’d be ready for bed at this late hour. Nancy and Jonathan retreated to his room to grab pillows and blankets while the kids filed around the house and Will’s room to grab items, too. Steve had already fallen asleep in the recliner, despite all of the chatter. Hopper, meanwhile, went out to his car to fetch his own sleeping items and some extras before he laid out his own bed and quickly fell asleep.

 

It took about 15 minutes for all of the kids to get situated. El had to run to the bathroom to get all of the material out of her hair and wash off her make up. None of the others had any sleep clothes except for Will, so they simply remained in their normal clothing as they crawled into sleeping bags and makeshift beds, the tiredness threatening to overwhelm all of them. Lucas and Max lay together with Dustin on the other side of Lucas. El and Mike lay side-by-side, but El had fallen asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, exhausted from the extensive use of her powers.

 

Mike grinned and turned to Will, who was getting into his sleeping bag on Mike’s other side. Once Will was situated, he turned to face Mike. Mike held out a hand and Will took it in his own.

 

“Don’t be afraid to wake me up if you have any bad dreams,” Mike said in a tone just loud enough for Will to hear him. “I’ll be here all night with you, okay?”

 

Will nodded.

 

“I know,” he whispered back. “Thank you.”

 

“Friends forever, Will.”

 

“Friends forever, Mikey.”

 

* * *

 

 

Mike gasped as he woke up and whispered Will’s name. He took several breaths to calm himself down as he realized he had just woken up from a pretty bad dream that involved him watching Will’s exorcism from the Mind Flayer. It hadn’t looked good and the dream made it seem like Mike was about to lose Will. Realizing that Will had let go of his hand sometime while sleeping, Mike turned over and found Will’s sleeping bag empty.

 

Without hesitating, Mike stood up, trying his best to avoid stepping on any of his friends and moving as quickly and quietly as he could around them. Hopper had fallen asleep on the couch and was snoring loudly. Mike had to suppress a laugh as he wondered how anybody could sleep through all of the noise Hopper was making. Mike tiptoed over to Will’s room, somehow knowing that’s where he would find his best friend.

 

Will was sitting on his bed, crying lightly. Mike eased his way into the bedroom and walked around to Will’s side. It was a few seconds before Will looked up and nearly jumped back in shock.

 

“I didn’t even hear you come in!” Will exclaimed in a whisper.

 

“Sorry,” said Mike. “I just wasn’t sure if you needed anything.”

 

“Just you,” Will said in a tone that was practically begging.

 

Mike sat down on the bed and scooted close to Will. Mike wrapped his arms around Will as Will leaned in and cried on his shoulder.

 

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, Will,” Mike said as he pulled Will closer, if that were possible. “I’m here. I’m here.”

 

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Will said when he managed to stop crying. “I was just having trouble sleeping and I didn’t want to bother you or anyone so I came in here to see if that would help, but then I started getting nervous about being alone and I didn’t know what to do and — ”

 

“Relax, Will,” Mike said. “Take a deep breath. In through your nose and out through your mouth.” Will obeyed him and Mike felt Will’s body relax against his own. “There you go, just like that. It’s okay, Will. I know it feels like a lot, but you’re allowed to feel this way.”

 

Will nodded.

 

“I just hate not being able to sleep,” he said. “I think you rolled over and let go of my hand and my body and mind just kinda freaked out and went into overdrive mode.”

 

“I’m sorry about that,” said Mike. “I didn’t mean to let go.”

 

“I know, I know,” said Will. “I guess I kinda just freaked out when I couldn’t feel you anymore, even though I could see you were right there next to me.”

 

“If it makes you feel any better, I just woke up cause I was having a bad dream about you,” Mike said, hesitating somewhat as he told Will this. Will pulled out of Mike’s grasp and looked up at him.

 

“You did?”

 

Mike nodded.

 

“Yeah, it was pretty scary. And it was even scarier when I realized you weren’t lying down next to me. But somehow I knew you were in here, waiting for me.”

 

“I was. I’m sorry for waking you up, Mike.”

 

“Hey, when I said we’d go crazy together, I meant that in other ways too: We do everything together, Will. Even if that means not being able to sleep at night, we do that together. Understand?”

 

“I do,” said Will, nodding. “I’m just really glad you’re here.”

 

“I am, too. I never want to lose you again, Will. When your body didn’t respond to my story about that day in kindergarten, I thought I had lost you for good. That scared me, Will.”

 

“It did?”

 

“Yeah, it scared me a whole lot,” said Mike as tears started to form in his eyes and roll down his cheek, but he didn’t bother wiping them away. “I was worried I’d never get to see you again, never get to joke around with you, never get to hug you when you need it, never get to listen to you again. But I have a chance again, Will. We have the chance to keep being best friends.”

 

“Thank god,” said Will as he laid his head on Mike’s shoulder. Mike hesitated for a moment before he laid his head on top of Will’s and held onto Will’s hand.

 

“Just promise me something, Will,” said Mike.

 

“Anything.”

 

“Promise me I’ll never lose you again.”

 

“You’ll never lose me, Mike,” said. “Even if I have to fight like hell to get back to you, you’ll never lose me again. I promise, Mike.”

 

Mike smiled as he slowly broke the hug apart and helped Will stand up.

 

“Let’s get back to bed,” Mike said. Will nodded and yawned, his exhaustion finally starting to get the better of him. Mike took one of Will’s hands and led him into the living room. Nobody had heard them talking; everyone was still sleeping in their respective spots. Mike and Will crawled back into their makeshift beds and lay down.

 

The two boys turned to each other and looked deep into one another’s eyes. Mike held out his hand and Will took it again.

 

“If I let go at all, just pick it back up and hold it again,” Mike instructed.

 

“Okay,” Will said, smiling as he closed his eyes and felt the sleepiness start to take over him. He could have sworn he briefly felt a pair of lips brush across his forehead, but that might have been his imagination. Will heard Mike speak one more time and could just barely make out what he was saying.

 

“I’ll be here all night, Will. You just let me know if you need anything. Goodnight, Will.”

 

“Goodnight, Mike.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed this! I've got another Byler fanfic that's been brewing in my mind for the past couple of days that I'll be working on as soon as I'm done with my projects for Camp NaNoWriMo. Stay tuned!
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr: @wackywriterwhowriteswhenever


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